10 high-profile exits of 2016

2016 saw several high-profile business heads shifting jobs. A few did so amid ugly corporate battles or business crisesSmita Sinha | ET Online | Updated: December 26, 2016, 10:42 IST

2016 saw several high-profile business heads shifting jobs. A few did so amid ugly corporate battles or business crises. Flipkart made news for several top-level exits. Exits at the Tata Group highlighted the role of independent directors. Here are the top high-profile exits of 2016:

Cyrus Mistry was unceremoniously sacked as the chairman of the Tata Sons, the holding company of the $13 billion salt-to-software conglomerate on October 24, citing "under performance" and was replaced by Ratan Tata as interim chairman.

After 55-day long battle with Ratan Tata, Mistry resigned from six listed Tata Group companies on December 19. Mistry has also submitted a petition against the Tata Sons board and Tata trustees under Sections 241, 242 and 244 of the Companies Act, which deal with mismanagement of companies and oppression of minority shareholders.

Nikesh Arora, who was tipped for the top job at Japan's SoftBank, resigned over differences with Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son. Son, who had handpicked Arora to be his successor, tied the departure to his decision to extend his stay at the helm of the company.

One of the world's highest-paid executives with a $73-million package, Arora has moved to an advisory role. He was paid ¥16.6 billion in the previous fiscal year, when he started working at SoftBank.

Chitra Ramkrishna stepped down as the managing director and chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange (NSE), ending her 24-year career at the country's largest bourse. The exit came as a shock to many, but for some insiders it was expected, given the growing differences between Ramkrishna and some board members over various matters.

Ramkrishna was part of the team that set up the exchange in 1992 and was appointed as the joint MD in 2009. She was later elevated to the post of MD and CEO in 2013, the first woman to hold this position at the NSE.

Mukesh Bansal, commerce platform head at Flipkart, resigned in February, a week after a top-management restructuring that resulted in co-founder Binny Bansal's elevation as the CEO of Flipkart. Mukesh had joined Flipkart when it acquired the online fashion store Myntra for an estimated $375 million in May 2014.

After the takeover, he became part of the Flipkart top leadership. A month after he resigned, he started a health and fitness startup, CureFit, with Flipkart's former chief business officer Ankit Nagori. Bansal also joined the board of food delivery service Swiggy and logistics firm Rivigo.

After a year-long stint, Punit Soni resigned from the position of chief product officer at Flipkart in April this year. Soni, a former Google executive with expertise in mobile technology, was the most high-profile recruitment made by Flipkart. His exit came when Flipkart saw a management overhaul following several top-level exits.

Flipkart's chief financial officer Sanjay Baweja quit the company in November after a two-year stint. Baweja had joined Flipkart in November 2014 from Tata Communications where he was the Global CFO. He has joined Suzlon Energy as its CFO.

Former TCS vice-chairman resigned from the position of the chairman of National Skill Development Corporation in September. Sources said he had resigned citing health issues. His resignation came just ahead of rumours of him replacing Cyrus Mistry as Tata Sons chairman.

Snapdeal's Chief Product Officer Anand Chandrasekaran quit just a year after he had joined. Chandrasekaran was the chief product officer at Airtel before he joined Snapdeal in June 2015. Earlier, he was at Yahoo, where he was senior director for search and mobile.

Now Facebook has hired him to lead its Messenger platform. In a global role, Chandrasekaran will be working out of the Silicon Valley headquarters of the company and will help develop strategies and partnerships for the platform that already boasts of a billion users.

Mr Tetsuya Takano has resigned as Director and Chairman of Ricoh India. Takano was succeeded by Ian Peter Winham. Earlier, Takano was the general manager of the China and Emerging Markets Strategy Center under the Global Marketing Group at Ricoh Company in Tokyo.

R. Seshasayee stepped down from his position as the non-executive vice-chairman of Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja group flagship company, in July. He wanted to focus more on his current responsibilities as the chairman of Infosys. A chartered accountant, Seshasayee started his career with Hindustan Lever in 1971, and joined Ashok Leyland in 1976.

He was appointed executive director of the company in 1983, and became deputy managing director in 1993. He was also the president of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) till September 2003, as well as the chairman of the International Trade Committee in SIAM. He has also served as a director in ICICI Bank, EID Parry India and Sundaram Asset Management.